Suspended
by RavageDarkness
Summary: One-Shot. After lashing out at Tatsu following a mission, Rhapsodi is suspended by Elma. Takes place right after Chapter 6.


I'm really not a violent person. Don't get me wrong, I am a BLADE, and I have killed more people and indigen than I care to admit. Well, maybe not so much for the indigen, because some of those creatures are straight up "asscaves", as L would say. But I like to think that I keep a level head more often than not.

Today wasn't one of those days.

And, today, Tatsu wasn't exactly my favorite person.

Once we were back at the barracks, I merely leaned against a spot on a wall and Rhapsodied my arms as Elma, Lin, and Lao talked about the mission over coffee. All the while, I was trying to keep the glare off my face as I stared at Tatsu. As usual, he did his usual tough talk, taking a bit of credit for "Team Tatsu" defeating four Tainted indigens. Normally, I didn't take it seriously – I try to believe that he was purposely putting on a front. But at that moment, I really felt as if he was taking lightly the fact that he almost had us all killed – something Lin tried to get through his head.

"We told you to stay at the barracks!" Lin yelled, face flushed with anger.

"All Tatsu wanted to do was bring food," he said dismissively.

I felt my eye twitch as a glare took over my face. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lao give me a look.

"Are you okay there, Rook?" he asked. Before I could answer, Tatsu spoke up against.

"Friend must rest. Situation was dangerous."

My eye twitched again. Slowly, I stood up straight from the wall.

"Not a lot of people can be as great as Tatsu."

I balled up my fists as I bowed my head and closed my eyes. I started counting in my head for the sake of staving off my anger. Unfortunately…

"But fret not! Tatsu is here to protect you all. Dance of Triumph!"

…I only got up to one.

Before I knew it, I had my swords in my hands, making a beeline for Tatsu. I really wish I could say that I didn't want to kill him at that moment. But something told me that had it been for Lin rushing me with her shield and pinning me against the wall with it, I probably would have sliced him in half.

"Get off me!" I growled out as I tried to get free. It was futile, though – Lin was too strong.

"Not until you calm down," Lin grunted as she pressed the shield further into me.

"Rhapsodi, what has gotten into you?!" Elma demanded. During this, Tatsu hid behind one of her legs.

"He almost got us killed!" I yelled out, still trying to struggle.

"It was a mistake," Elma replied, trying her very best to be the one with a level head.

"One that could have ended with us all dead!" I yelled back. A part of me regretted yelling at Elma, but, I wasn't in my right mind at the moment.

"He does have a point," Lao said quietly. I turned my eyes towards him. "He was a liability out there, to say the least."

"Be that as it may, it doesn't give Rook the right to attack Tatsu!" Elma snapped back. She then glared at me. "As such, you're suspended indefinitely!"

"Indefinitely?!" Lin said as she looked over her should. My eyes went wide. "Don't you think that's a bit too harsh?"

"We don't attack each other Lin! Now let him go. I think a walk is in order for him." Lin continued to look at Elma. She then sighed before she looked up at me. The look she gave me as she backed away – it was mixture of sympathy in disappointment. For a moment, my expression softened as I felt a pang of guilt. I then growled out before I stormed out. As I did so, I thought I heard Lao sarcastically lauding Tatsu for his people skills.

…Seriously, screw that furball!

…Okay, that was harsh. But, like I said, I wasn't exactly in my right mind.

I roamed around the city for a while, trying to get myself to calm down. I practically travelled through all the districts. By the time the stars were out, I ended up at the Cathedral. I took a seat on the red bench. After some minutes of thinking to myself, I turned my body and laid on the bench, eyes to the sky as I literally and figuratively stared off into space. Slowly, but surely, sleep overtook me.

As I slept, I had a dream about our run-in with The Tainted. In that dream, it didn't go the way it did in real life. We managed to fight off The Tainted Caro, but we were torn apart by the Sphinx. I was the last one to go, and I was merely half a body trying to crawl towards an eviscerated Elma before I was crushed.

"No no no no, crap!" I yelled out as I sat up. I took in a few breaths as I turned my body and placed my feet on the floor.

"You looked troubled," I heard a voice say I brought my head up to see Hope Alanzi standing in front of me.

I didn't know the woman too well. I knew that she was a fellow BLADE – a Mediator, to be exact. Every now and again, she'd stop by the Barracks to see how everyone was doing or to just drop off a care package. But most of the time, I'd see her in front of this very Cathedral, listening and lending an ear to the many people that crowded around her. Word around town was that she was a sweetheart, which is probably why I didn't answer with a sarcastic quip.

"I've had better weeks," I said as I wiped the sweat from my forehead with my forearm. I then stood up. "I'll just be on my way." I started to walk, wanting to get some breakfast. However, I moved all of three steps before she spoke again.

"You are Rhapsodi, correct?" she asked. I stopped in my tracks before I looked over my shoulder.

"Who wants to know?" I asked.

"I was sent by Elma to check up on you." As she said this, she smiled slightly. I stared at her for a few moments. I then turned and kept on walking. However, I heard footsteps behind me. I couldn't help but sigh.

"Look… Hope is it?" I said as I kept on walking."

"It is," she replied politely.

"I'm really not in the mood for company. So, if it's all the same to you, I'd rather be left alone"

"People are worried about you," Hope said as she caught up to my side.

"Tell them I'd like to be left alone for a while," I replied brusquely. "…That's also a hint, in case you didn't catch it.

"They're afraid that you might do something ill-advised again." Really, the woman had the patience of a saint. I stopped in my tracks. I then turned my head towards Hope, who gave me a look of worry.

"…What do you know?"

"I was told that you raised your weapons against Tatsu. Is that true?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" I replied. I then resumed my walk. "Look, just tell Elma and company that I'm fine."

"But you're not," I heard Hope say. I stopped in tracks once more. This woman really can't take a hint. I turned towards her and glared. "Elma told me that what you did was not in your character and think that prior events have been wearing down on you. If that's the case, then acting as if you're okay when you're not is not a good way to go about your day."

I opened my mouth to say something, I then closed it. I shook my head before I spoke again. "Why do you care?" I said finally.

"…It's what I do." She smiled at me. "Will you finally tell me what's going on?"

"…Fiiiine," I grumbled out as I rolled my eyes. "But can we at least do this over breakfast?"

So, we ended up at a coffee shop – the one that Jo worked at. As we waited patiently for our food, I looked out of the window. The streets were rather bare, with it being rather early in the morning.

"So what happened?" Hope asked. I turned my head towards her. Really, I wanted nothing more than to just walk away. But it would have been really screwed up of me to do that after I had her walk with me all the way to the Commercial District.

"Tatsu isn't exactly my favorite person right now," I began. "There was this one mission we had in Oblivia – it was the one where we met the Ma-non. We took out some sentry guns and ended up in a fight against some Ganglion skells. We took them down, but Tatsu thought it was all over and started dancing around out in the open like an idiot. He was about to get blasted. He almost did until I pushed him out of the way. I ended up having my arm blown off and I almost bled out before Lin shut me down."

"So you have resentment towards Tatsu for that?"

"Hope, you have to understand something – I didn't know what a Mimeosome was at that point. I didn't know every human on this planet was a conscious controlling a cyborg body." I furrowed my eyebrows up. "I was not only in immense pain, I was freaking out because I didn't know what I was, and I was afraid I was going to die."

"…I'm sorry," Hope said quietly. She then tilted her head. "But… how did you go this long without knowing that you're a Mimeosome?"

"I don't even remember my time on Earth," I explained. "The only clear memories I have are of the time Elma pulled me out of that pod."

"I see," Hope said. She then gave me a sympathetic smile. "Perhaps that's not the best way to find out."

I actually chuckled a bit at that. "No, it's not. But you know what? I was on my way to forgiving him for it. I didn't even hold it against him… anymore. But then this mission happened. It was supposed to be a relatively simple one. We go into the Tainted's territory and pick up the weapon that the Ganglion was trying to acquire. And it was going well. Since we were in artificial bodies, the Tainted ignored us completely. But then Tatsu showed – after we specifically told him to stay at the Barracks!" I felt my anger bubble again. I balled my right hand into a fist as I my eyebrows furrowed up. I then felt a light kick on my shin. I looked up at Hope, who leaned towards me.

"You don't want to scare the patrons," Hope said in a whisper. "Please calm yourself."

I looked at her for some moments. I then nodded as I unraveled my right fist.

"...He brought us lunch," I continued. "The idiot snuck onto a BLADE copter for the sake of bringing us lunch and almost got us killed in the process." I scoffed. "Tatsu is not like us, Hope. He's organic. So mere moments after he showed up, we had to deal with three Tainted Caros and a Tainted Sphinx. And even after that, three Tainted Sphinxes showed up. Only reason we didn't have to face them was because some indigen we never seen or heard of before flew in and wasted them."

"Tatsu was only trying to help," Hope pointed out.

"He almost got Elma, Lin, and Lao killed!" I retorted. "Hope… when we got back to the Barracks, it seemed as if Tatsu thought the whole thing was… was no big deal! People who I cared for almost got killed, and he's all dancing around!"

"…So, you care about them a lot?" Hope asked.

"I'm a man walking around with no memories of my past," I replied. "BLADE is all I got. Team Elma is all I got."

"Do they know that?" Hope asked.

"I… think?" I responded. Honestly, I wasn't so sure. There were moments when he had some heart-to-heart talks. Plus, we hung out a lot, whether it'd be a walk in the park some shopping for clothes. We were so attached at the hip that a BLADE had to ask if Elma, Lin, and I were a family.

And honestly? Why not?

"I don't know," I said quietly. At that, Hope chuckled.

"Maybe you should tell them," she suggested. "Or at least tell Elma. Because something tells me that you're not too keen on them going on a mission without them."

"…Well, that's not untrue," I admitted. I then shook my head. "I don't know if I can talk to her now, though."

"That's fine," she replied with a smile. "I can talk to her after this so you two can talk later. Just wait on my call. Plus, you know… food." As she said this, the waitress came back with our food.

After that, I did what she said and waited around for her call, visiting parts of the city to keep myself. By the time I got the call, I was in Deliverance Park, setting on a bench as I looked up at the aurora in the sky. I couldn't help but frown. Really, Mira can be quite the beautiful planet, but it's very hard to appreciate something when you're out and about trying not to get yourself killed.

"You know, with all the fighting, it's easy to not notice the beauty of this planet," a voice said.

See?

I turned my head slightly to see Elma taking a seat next to me.

"Yeah, this planet is quite beautiful," I replied sarcastically. "Nothing more beautiful than a pack of Grexes wanting to rip your heart out and eat it."

"…Well, this planet isn't exactly short on surprises," Elma replied with a tilt of her head. She then frowned. "I'm sorry, Rhapsodi."

"For suspending me?" I asked.

"No," she said plainly. I had to stifle a sigh. "I understand that you were pretty cross with Tatsu given what happened during the last two missions, but to respond the way you did was still wrong, and I had to act accordingly." After that, she briefly tilted her head. "With that said, there are actions I should have taken prior to this mission. I didn't give you any downtime after you found out that you were a Mimeosome, which was a mistake, considering how you found out."

"That…" I paused. Well, she wasn't wrong, but I felt that was more my fault. I wanted the Ganglion gone as much as the next BLADE and I was bent on that mission. It didn't occur to me rest… which was funny, given my ability to nap almost anywhere. "That's not untrue… but, it wasn't just stress. It was…"

"…Because you care about us, right?" Elma said with a small smile.

"You, the rest of the team, Vandham, Nagi, even the other BLADES that tend to come and go through our Barracks… you're all I got," I said. "I care about you all a lot." I sighed. "Maybe I did overreact… and I'm sorry about that. But I was afraid we were going to die when The Tainted had their eyes on us. And the fact that Tatsu didn't seem to really understand that fact… I took a little personal, you know?"

"I understand, Rhapsodi," Elma said. "Tatsu didn't mean it, I'm sure. But perhaps a stern talking-to is in order. As for you, Rhapsodi? While I do need to be more proactive regarding the mental and emotional wellbeing of my teammates, I'm going to need you to be more open. So please, if you ever find yourself in a position where a break from it all is extremely necessary, please let me know. After all, we care about you, too. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied.

"Good. Now come here." She turned in seat and held her arms open. I couldn't help but my roll my eyes. I wasn't much for hugs. Still, I relented as I leaned over and wrapped my arms around her. We remained like that for several seconds. I felt her smile against my cheek, which caused me to smile in return. She pulled away, smile still on her face. It then shrunk a bit. "You're still suspended."

"I was afraid you'd say that," I replied glumly.

"It's for your own good, Rook," she said. "Everyone needs a break from the action. Plus, I need your head back in the game in two weeks. I've nominated you for eligibility for the Skell License Test, but I don't want you taking it until you're good and ready. Until then, please relax."

"I will," I said. "…Thank you."

"Anytime. Now let's go. Lin's getting worried about you, and I'm afraid that she might actually cook Tatsu while I'm not watching her."

"…I am kind of hungry," I said as I stood up. Elma stood up as well as she gave me a glare. I smiled at her widely. "Kidding… just kidding."


End file.
